Five Links #60
Five links for your inbox from this week.
1. The Substack Branding and Faux Prestige Trap
Among the handful of oft-discussed problems with Substack:
- Their 90/10 subscription revenue split isn’t usurious, but it’s high compared to competing platforms — especially once you reach an even mid-tier level of popularity.
- The only way this independent publishing game works, by any credible definition of “the long run”, is to build your own audience. Substack has indies convinced that they build an audience for you through some sort of secret-sauce network effects, but I’ve seen no evidence that’s true. Writers with established reputations and readerships joining Substack are helping build Substack’s brand, not their own.
- The whole, you know, Nazi thing.
2. Leave Substack
If you’re thinking of leaving Substack, this helpful single-pager has migration guides to Beehiiv, Buttondown and Ghost. There are also links to examples of other prominent newsletters that have moved away.
3. Saying Thank You
I’ve got a “Reply via email” link at the bottom of my posts. I don’t get messages regularly, but when I do they are nuggets of gold for all the reasons Eric outlines. Something I wrote resonated with someone so much that they took the time to sit down and write me a little note? That’s neat! Thank you for reading.
4. Fonts In Use is not active on Instagram
Discontinuing our activity on Instagram matches a broader ethos at Fonts In Use where we try our best to operate the project in a way we feel good about, even if doing so risks the possibility of a bit more work, a smaller operating budget, or a reduced audience. We’re proud to exist as proof that you can operate a successful, sustainable organization without relying on so many of the dystopian companies and technologies many people accept as necessary evils these days.
5. All the concerns that make you a boring developer
I strongly relate to this blog post – lots of great questions to consider.
Geopolitical - Rare, but happens. See: Facebook Myanmar genocide
Ouch.
What am I up to?
- I recently penned some thoughts on typeface licenses
- Unoffice Hours continue on a fortnightly schedule. The next available slot is 20 August.
- I’m offering design consultations to give feedback on design work without the commitment of a larger project. These are running at a discounted rate until the end of September.
- I’m currently booking projects from October/November onwards.
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Until next time,
Dave
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